Cotton Info

Cotton in a Nutshell

• The cotton plant is a leafy, green shrub and a member of the Hibiscus family.

• Cottons botanical name is Gossypium hirsutum ( American upland) or barbadense, sometimes known as Pima Cotton.

• Cotton is an unusual fibre as it is thin, and hollow like a straw.

• Cotton seeds are usualplanted once the ground reaches 14 degrees Celsius

• The growing season in total is 180 days.

• Cotton is a food crop.

• There are 43 species of cotton.

•Cotton is grown in many countries around the world.

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Australian Cotton History

1788 The First Fleet brings cotton seed to Australia

1830 First shipment of cotton exported to England, consisting of three bags

1857 Small quantities of dryland cotton grown in Queensland

1861-65 American Civil War causes American cotton production to fall. Australia attempts to fill the gap

1870's Australian cotton production peaks then falls as world prices decline

1926 The Queensland Cotton Marketing Board is established. Government subsidy introduced to promote production in central Queensland

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FUN FACTS

• A bale of cotton weighs 227kg.

• The fibre from one 227kg cotton bale can produce 215 pairs of jeans, 250 single bed sheets, 750 shirts, 1,200 t-shirts, 2,100 pairs of boxer shorts, 3,000 nappies, 4,300 pairs of socks or 680,000 cotton balls.

• Cotton can absorb up to 27 times its own weight in water

• Cotton was originally grown in several different colours including rust, brown and light purple.

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For more fact sheets please visit:

www.cottonaustralia.com.au